5th Junior Boys National Championships: Four Arunachal pugilists enter final

ITANAGAR: Arunachal Pradesh boxers dominated the ring on Thursday, confirming two bronze and at least four silver medals for the home side to match their feat with boxing powerhouse Haryana, even as eight pugilists from the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) stormed into the finals of the 5th Junior Boys National Championships being held at the Don Bosco College here.

Techi Jacky (46 kg), Gaykie Rie (52 kg), Nenthok Hodong (54 kg) and Tagio Liyak (57 kg) registered contrasting victories to march into the summit clash-es of their respective weight categories even as Loma Ring (50 kg) and Tara Sonia (60 kg) endured heartbreaking loses to eventually settle for the bronze medals.

With all eyes on the home boys, Techi Jacky began the proceedings amid loud cheers from the motley crowd present at the picturesque venue, and lived up to the expectations when he recorded a victory over Telangana’s Md Abdul Wadi Omair by a resounding 5-0 (unanimous decision).

Techi used his agility and swift movements to great effect and unsettled the opponent in the very first round and continued to dominate the proceedings throughout the next two rounds to sail into the final of the 46 kg Pinweight category bout.

In the final, he will take on Uttarakhand’s Brijesh Tamta, who defeated Gu-jarat’s Aniket Mallah 5-0.

In the 52 kg light bantamweight semi-final, Gayki Rie wasn’t in the best of his elements against Haryana’s Dhruv but despite that he eventually managed to score a 4-1 split decision verdict in his favour. Gaykie will next face Sahil Board of the Services, who defeated Manipur’s Th Nilbir 5-0.

In the 54 kg bantamweight category, Nenthok set up a title clash with De-vang of the Services after getting the better of Assam’s Abhinash Das by a 3-2 split decision. Nenthok had to work hard for his win as the Assam lad matched him shot by shot before the Arunachal boxer gathered himself in the third and final round, thanks to the cheer from the crowd, to ensure a close finish.

Devang on the other hand, registered a convincing 5-0 UD win over Sundry Yadav of Uttar Pradesh in the other semifinal contest.

Tagio Liyak cruised to the 57 kg featherweight category final with a com-manding 5-0 victory over Chandigarh’s Arman. While the results may appear con-vincing, Tagio did admit after the bout that the Chandigarh lad was equally strong and managed to make contacts but it was the Arunachal boxer’s strong defence that helped him get over the line comfortably.

In the final, Tagio will be up against Haryana’s Yogesh Dhanda, who record-ed an easy 5-0 UD win over Andhra Pradesh’s Hemanth Jana Kumar Pappu.

Meanwhile, Manipur’s M Punshiba (60 kg), Mizoram’s Lalnunpuia (66 kg), Ladakh’s Villayat Ali (66 kg), Punjab’s Shriyansh (80 kg) and Himachal Pra-desh’s Vendant Dhauta (80+ kg) were among the other finalists in their respec-tive weight categories.

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